On Thursday, the NBA announced its selections for the 2012-13 All-NBA teams.

‘First team’

The first team includes LeBron James of the Miami Heat, Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers.

The second team includes Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks, Blake Griffin of the Clippers, Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies, Tony Parker of the Spurs and Russell Westbrook of the Thunder.

Finally, the third team is comprised of David Lee of the Golden State Warriors, Paul George of the Indiana Pacers, Dwight Howard of the Lakers, Dwyane Wade of the Heat and James Harden of the Houston Rockets.

‘Phenomenal’

According to the Lakers’ Twitter account, Bryant’s 11th selection to the first team ties him with Karl Malone for the most all time. Bryant was excellent again in 2012-13, averaging 27.3 points while moving into fourth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

Via USA Today, James led all players with 119 votes for first-team selection, while Durant was second with 102. James was once again phenomenal this season and was nearly the league’s consensus MVP (his fourth time winning the award), leading the Heat in points (26.8), assists (7.3) and rebounds (8.0) per game.

Durant wasn’t too shabby himself, averaging 28.1 points per contest.

Which team do you think is the best team among the three? And which team are you rooting for?

ESPN’s Michael Wallace originally reported Pacers head coach Frank Vogel made a dismissive comment with regard to the defending NBA champions following his team’s closeout victory over the New York Knicks in Game 6 on Saturday.

‘Just the next team’

Vogel stated that Miami is “just the next team” in the way of Indiana’s quest for the Larry O’Brien Trophy, and Heat superstar and reigning MVP LeBron James took issue with that in Sunday’s practice. Wallace documented James’ response to Vogel’s barb at American Airlines Arena on Sunday:

We’re not just another team. I don’t understand what he’s saying. But we’re not just another team. That’s not true. He said we’re just another team in their way. We’re a great team. If we’re just another team, you really don’t prepare for just another team. You have to prepare for us. …

We’re very confident. We’ll be ready for them. We don’t need bulletin-board material. We’ve heard everything, we’ve seen everything. But I would say we’re not just another team, though.

‘Great respect’

On Monday, the Indiana Pacers released a statement from Frank Vogel in response to LeBron James’ remarks:

“Sorry sports world, the words ‘just another team’ never came out of my mouth,” he said. “Great respect for LBJ and the champs. Looking forward to [a] great series.”

How will this “feud” affect both Miami and Indiana’s Eastern Conference Finals play out? Feel free to share your thoughts with us!